Quinn Kaehler wasn’t entirely ready to leave Diablo Valley College when he did.

After throwing for 4,044 yards and 38 touchdowns (with only 12 interceptions) as the Vikings’ captain in 2012, Kaehler’s plan was to finish up the school year at the junior college and then evaluate his options.

But then San Diego State came calling, and after some conversations with quarterbacks coach Brian Sipe, Kaehler started to feel like the Mesa would be a good place for him.

So instead of staying home in Pleasant Hill for one more semester, Kaehler reported to SDSU in time to join the Aztecs for spring drills.

In a quarterback meeting room alongside scholarship guys like Matt Morin, Chad Jeffries, and Chase Favreau and veterans Adam Dingwell and Jake Bernards, Kaehler was the dark horse in the race to compete for a spot on the two-deep.

But things have changed since those early days in the spring.

Morin left the team after the spring game and Kaehler has worked his way into the No. 2 quarterback spot to open fall camp.

His accuracy and intelligence have earned him the respect of offensive coordinator Bob Toledo. So even though Kaehler doesn’t have the strongest arm – “he can’t break a pane of glass,” Toledo said – the junior walk-on has become the guy who will take the field if anything happens to starter Dingwell.

Is he surprised by the way he vaulted up the depth chart?

“I wasn’t too worried about that,” Kaehler said. “I just wanted to come in and do my best and let the coaches decide who goes where on the depth chart.”

Maybe it’s because he wasn’t really recruited at all out of high school, or maybe it’s just his way, but Kaehler comes across very humble, almost like he’s the kind of guy who’s apt to downplay his abilities.

Ask him what his strengths are and he doesn’t say much about the accuracy that Toledo and Aztecs coach Rocky Long seem so impressed by.

Instead: “I think I’m coachable and I can execute a game plan and manage the game well,” Kaehler said.

What do you think you accomplished at Diablo Valley College?

“I just felt like we had a good team and we worked hard and got a lot better than we were when we started there,” is the answer.

Comment on his lofty yardage total from 2012, and he averts the praise, once again pegging it to the fact that he “played with a lot of good teammates, and it’s a good offense that spaced the field well.”

But ask him what he’s working on this season, and the answer comes without thought or hesitation.

“I have to get a lot better with my footwork,” Kaehler said. “In junior college, we were working out of the shotgun, so I have to get better at drops from under center.”

He’s already working on his quarterback-center exchanges. Monday evening after practice, he lingered for a few minutes and worked on taking snaps from center Jordan Smith while Sipe provided instruction.